At 8:00am this morning, I spotted a smallish tern perched on top of a stick that juts out of the water on pond #2 (closest to the restrooms) at Vance Creek county park in Elma. It reminded me very much of the Common Terns that I saw at Ocean Shores with the Sullivans a couple weeks ago. It had the black cap that extended down the nape, a reddish-orange bill with a black tip, orange legs, overall pale gray colored, and the one field mark that has me questioning it as Common is that the primaries seemed to be more of a pale gray with hints of black edges. The bird didn't fly while I was watching. Perhaps anyone that is passing through Elma while headed to the coast can stop by the park and see if this bird is still around to help confirm the ID.

Also, I counted at least six Green Herons around pond #2. They were very active flying from shore to shore. Several were fishing right from the gravel beach at the swimming area.

One Ruddy Duck was present on the pond, too. It was mainly associating with 3 Hooded Mergansers. I also saw one Spotted Sandpiper along one of the rocky shores of the pond.

Good birding,

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo.com



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